CITY OF PEWAUKEE
— Cardiac Science Corporation said Monday a 12-person jury in
Los Angeles Superior Court decided in favor of the company’s
breach of contract claims against Zoll Medical Corporation and
Zoll LifeCor Corporation, resulting in Cardiac Science being
awarded $22,991,985 in lost royalties.

City of Pewaukee-based Cardiac Science Corporation is an Opto
Circuits group company and a global leader in automated external
defibrillators. This case that was decided May 22 involved a
long-standing dispute over the company’s wearable defibrillator
technology, according to the announcement. Cardiac Science was
represented by Patterson Thuente IP in the dispute.

“This decision comes after years of attempts to negotiate and
resolve the dispute between the parties. Nevertheless, we are
thrilled that this jury unanimously ruled that the cross-license
agreement between Cardiac Science and the defendants was
breached,” said Al Ford, Cardiac Science senior vice president
and general manager, in a statement.

According to the announcement, in 2002 LifeCor began marketing
its LifeVest product, which Cardiac Science alleged infringed a
number of Cardiac Science’s patents. To avoid infringement
claims, LifeCor entered into a cross-license agreement with
Cardiac Science and was able to continue selling its device,
according to the company; however, once Zoll Medical acquired
LifeCor in 2006, they stopped paying royalties associated with
the cross-license agreement. Cardiac Science sued Zoll Medical
and Zoll LifeCor for breach of contract in 2011.